Ireland never at the races

After all that controversy, all those appeals, all that furore, Ireland’s 4x400m were well off the pace in their heat yesterday.

The team failed to progress, finishing sixth in 3:30.55 in a race they never looked like seriously contesting.

The USA team won, with Russia second and Great Britain third. All three qualified for the final automatically and were joined by Czech Republic, who finished fourth and progressed as a faster loser.